Clemens Lecture Series

Clemens Lecture Series

Serving the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

The Clemens Lecture Series was founded to further conversation on the ways that economics can speak to the larger problems of our society and culture. It brings to Saint John's outstanding economists noted for their abilities to address the economic dimensions of social issues and to sustain dialogue with the other fields of the liberal arts. It also provides a valuable opportunity for students to meet both informally and in classes with the visiting lecturer. The lecture series is designed to be practically useful in understanding daily life and is intended for a wide audience, including students, faculty, the business and professional community and members of the general public interested in the impact of econimc issues in their lives.

To view past lectures, please go to the Digital Commons page (on left side of this page), click Faculty and Staff SelectedWorks and then the Clemens Lecture site

The 2015 Clemens Lecturer will be Carol Graham. The title of her lecture isBentham and Aristotle at the Census Bureau? Happiness Economics and Public Policy. The lecture will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. in the Stephen B. Humphrey.

Carol Graham is the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and College Park Professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. She is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

She is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Toward an Economy of Well-Being (Brookings, 2011; published in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and paperback); Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires (Oxford University Press, 2009; published in Chinese, Portuguese and paperback); Happiness and Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies (with Stefano Pettinato, Brookings, 2002; published in Spanish); Private Markets for Public Goods: Raising the Stakes in Economic Reform (Brookings, 1998); Safety Nets, Politics and the Poor: Transitions to Market Economies (Brookings, 1994); Peru's APRA (Lynne Rienner, 1992); Improving the Odds: Political Strategies for Institutional Reform in Latin America (co-author, IDB, 1999); and A Half Penny on the Dollar: The Future of Development Aid, with Michael O'Hanlon (Brookings, 1997). She is the editor, with Eduardo Lora, of Paradox and Perceptions: Quality of Life in Latin America (Brookings, 2009); with Susan Collins, of the Brookings Trade Forum 2004: Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality (Brookings, 2006); and, with Nancy Birdsall, of New Markets, New Opportunities? Economic and Social Mobility in a Changing World (Brookings, 1999), and Beyond Trade-Offs: Market Reforms and Equitable Growth in Latin America (Brookings/IDB, 1988). She is the author of articles in journals including the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the World Bank Research Observer, Health Affairs, Health Economics, the Journal of Socio-Economics, World Economics, Foreign Affairs, the Journal of Development Studies, the Journal of Latin American Studies, World Development, the Journal of Happiness Studies, and of numerous chapters in edited volumes, including the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. She is an associate editor at the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and on the editorial boards of numerous other economic journals. She served on a National Academy of Sciences panel on well-being metrics and policy in 2012-13, and received a research scholar of the year award from the International Society of Quality of Life Studies for 2014.